Too much time. Gibbs had spent far too much time waiting for news on Tony in hospitals. When he had the plague. That was two weeks of hell. Tony was so close to death for so long Gibbs jumped every time a doctor came near him. One time Dr. Pitt came out on his way to lunch with the hospital chaplain and he nearly wet himself. He was so sure they were coming to tell him his son was dead. Then all the times Tony got injured in the line of duty. At least those times it was only a couple of hours of hell. Now for the second time in two days he was waiting to find out if he had lost another child or if Tony had miraculously come through just fine again. How many more times could he do that really? This was getting old.

"Just be okay son." Gibbs begged.


Gibbs's thoughts were interrupted by the return of Abby, McGee, Ziva, Jack, Ducky, and Jimmy. Gibbs didn't have the heart to ruin their lunch. So he let them enjoy their good time. He deserved to be put through this torture alone anyway. Now that they were back though he was regretting not calling right away. They were laughing and relaxed. Thinking that their friend was going to be just fine and now he had to tell them he may be dying after all. He couldn't do anything right could he?

"Anyway that was the last time I was welcome in that establishment." Ducky said.

"Didn't see you as a partier even in your college days Ducky." McGee commented.

"You would be surprised what you don't know about me Timothy." Ducky replied.

"Jethro did not do that!" Ziva laughed.

"He did but the joke wound up being on him because when he finally did get the chicken pox he was also dealing with an allergic reaction to Ann's lipstick." Jack replied,

"Funny Jethro said he never had any allergies." Ziva commented.

"Well he outgrew it and he was only five at the time." Jack explained.

"So are you going to call Shelly?" Abby asked.

"Oh yeah I totally want Breena finding a transvestite's number on my phone." Jimmy replied.

"Well she won't know it's a tranny." Abby assured.

"Yeah she'll think I'm cheating on her with a transvestite." Jimmy replied.

"Guys I have something I need to tell you." Gibbs said.

"What is it Jethro?" Ducky asked.

"A few minutes ago.I was with Tony and he started having a lot of pain. They took him back for tests and I am waiting." Gibbs replied.

"No! They said he'd be okay! He has to be okay!" Abby cried.

"Actually we have news." Dr. Goldman said entering the room.

"What is it?" Gibbs demanded.

"The kidney that Tony injured in the wreck has started hemorrhaging and needs to be removed. I just need the permission from you to do the procedure." Dr. Goldman explained.

"Well what are you doing standing here?! Go get that stupid thing out of him before he bleeds out!" Gibbs ordered.

"Yes sir." Dr. Goldman replied.

"Well what are you waiting for?! Times a wasting! Go on! GO!" Gibbs ordered.

"Alright" Dr. Goldman replied.

"Will you just get out of here?!" Gibbs growled.

"Leroy he is walking out of the room at a reasonable pace. I know you are scared for Tony but you need to relax." Jack said.


Gibbs paced back and forth around the waiting room. He kept commenting on how slow they were here and how he just wanted to hear about Tony.

"Jethro I think your biggest problem is that you haven't eaten since yesterday." Ducky commented.

"How the hell am I supposed to eat?! My son is in the fucking hospital Duck!" Gibbs argued.

"I know Jethro I know how worried you get when Anthony is in trouble but you need to eat something. It's not good for you to starve yourself." Ducky replied.

"He does have a point Leroy." Jack added.

"Fine" Gibbs sighed.

"Come on let's go down to the cafeteria and get you something. Even a cup of soup from the vending machine is better than nothing." Ducky replied.

"Why can't I just go by myself?" Gibbs demanded.

"I do not fully trust that you will actually go eat. For all I know you'll just go and watch Anthony's surgery some how." Ducky replied.

"Fine!" Gibbs yelled.

"You'll feel a lot better after you eat something." Ducky replied.


Gibbs and Ducky walked down the hall to the elevator. Once inside Ducky pressed the button for the bottom floor. Once they arrived in the cafeteria Gibbs and Ducky walked through the line. Gibbs finally settled on some chicken tender and some fries. Ducky picked up a small carton of milk from the end of the line. Gibbs reached in his pocket and slammed a five dollar bill on the counter.

"Sir do you have a family member in the hospital?" The woman at the register asked.

"Yeah" Gibbs replied.

"Well food is free for family members of patients." The woman replied.

"Keep it as a tip or something!" Gibbs growled.

"Pardon my friend. He's having a tough time his son being in the hospital and everything." Ducky apologized.

"I hope your son feels better soon." The lady told Gibbs.

"Jethro say thank you." Ducky said.

"Gee for saying I hope he gets better. What else would she say. I hope he dies?" Gibbs demanded.

"Jethro you need to relax." Ducky replied.


Gibbs poured himself a cup of coffee. Hoping that it would be better than the liquid crap they had in the waiting room. After quickly wolfing down his food. He slammed a lid on his coffee and headed back to the ICU. Leaving Ducky alone in the cafeteria.

"You feeling better Leroy?" Jack asked.

"I guess." Gibbs replied.

"I'm just glad you ate something. You'll feel better soon now." Jack explained.

"Any word on Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm afraid not but it hasn't been that long." Jack replied.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his father before resuming his post by the door. Ducky finally returned a full half hour after Gibbs. He didn't stick around long. After a few minutes he accompanied Abby and McGee to the hospital chapel. Leaving Gibbs with Jack, Ziva, and Jimmy. The group got even smaller soon when Jimmy went to go call Breena. He had completely forgotten they had to meet with the adoption lawyer that afternoon. It wasn't long before Gibbs was the only one left in the room. Ziva went to get some air and Jack followed close behind to make sure that she was okay. Gibbs briefly considered going to join Abby and them in the chapel but decided against it. Worried that he'd miss an update on Tony if he left again.


"Hey Breena"

"Hi Jimmy"

"Uh I was just calling to see what time our appointment was."

"It was an hour ago."

"Oh Breena I'm so sorry."

"Are you still in Pennsylvania?"

"Yes"

"How's Tony doing? From the way you made it sound he was in bad shape last nigh.

"Not good."

"What's wrong?"

"He split his side open and they had to remove his spleen and now they have to take one of his kidney's out."

"Oh that's bad."

"Yeah. Gibbs is really freaked out. Well everybody is but he's really messed up."

"I hope both of them get better soon."

"I'll call you as soon as I have an idea when I'll be home but I need to be here as long as Tony is critical."

"Stay as long as you need. The adoption lawyer didn't have any appointments until next week anyway. It's a week from Thursday at three."

"Okay hopefully Tony will have improved by then."

"I hope so too. Well I have to get back to work."

"Talk to you later."


Gibbs took a swig of his coffee and looked down at his watch. It had been almost three hours and there was still no news on Tony. He was getting ready to go yell at a nurse to get news. When Dr. Goldman finally walked through the double doors followed by Dr. Pitt.

"How is he?" Gibbs demanded.

"Uh" Dr. Goldman started.

"Maybe I should tell him Nate." Dr. Pitt offered.

"Tell me what?!" Gibbs demanded.

"I'm sorry Agent Gibbs but there was a complication." Dr. Pitt replied.


A/N: Sorry for ending on a cliffhanger. I originally planned a different ending but there was no way I could update this week and write that ending well. Not sure when the next update will be please review and thanks for reading.